There’s a rumor that the Sony A77 offers clean hdmi out. It would be nice because this camera has some important advantages over other hdslrs like no moire, higher framerates and a nice screen. Only the bad compression Sony uses is what really bugs us all, so we would like to record via hdmi to a disk recorder.
Unfortunately in the 30 minutes I spent with the Sony rep on the camera menu we couldn’t get rid of the tiny square in the middle of the picture. Maybe there’s a workaround I didn’t find, but taking into consideration that crippling the hdmi outs on these cameras has become a standard procedure I suppose the facts are quite obvious.
We had even worse issues with the new Sony NEX-5N. The camera menu is constantly displayed on the right hand side of the feed. It seems like a camera has to be as “shitty” as the Sony HX9v in order to be allowed with clean hdmi out. Find an hdmi grab of this camera I recently posted here.
Only the new and yet unreleased Sony VG-20 offers a clean hdmi output. I will post a detailed report and test results in the next days.

The much anticipated Sony Alpha 77 was finally announced today in conjunction with a bunch of reviews and alongside the also much anticipated large sensor video camera VG-20, but more about that later on. Now let’s face the first question: Will the A77 be the next great hdslr? No comment. (… but no).
Read much more after the jump:

And here we go again. The A77 is coming in hard.
How long will this camera be haunting us before we finally know if it really is any good at all? Let us calm our expectations so we don’t have to fall too high.
A77 rumored specs:
24.3 MP Exmor HD CMOS sensor
19 points AF sensor with 11 cross sensors
ISO 100-16000, with expandeable ISO 50 option
1920 x 1080 60p/24p AVCHD 2.0
P/A/S/M manual controls while recording video
1200 zone metering
Completely new developed Bionz processor
12 fps
1/8000 shutter speed
50ms minimum release time lag
electronic first shutter curtain
TrueBlack 921k 3-way tilt LCD
3 million dot OLED viewfinder
Smart teleconverter function with 1.4x and 2.0x option
Built-in flash
Built-in GPS
Battery life with over over 500 shots
Magnesium alloy body
Dust and Moisture proof
Multi Frame NR
SD card (no CF!)
A77 weights 680g and A65 weights 543g
Body only will be priced at $1000
Body + 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM Kit will be priced between $1600 and $1800.
The A77 and the A65 will be available in Europe and US around the 17th-20th of October.
The announcement is said to happen on August 24th, that’s Wednesday. We’ll keep you posted.
Also don’t forget that there’s another Sony announcement rumored to come this week, a camera that is actually dedicated to video: The VG-20, successor of the not good enough to beat HDSLR Sony VG-10:
VG-20 rumored specs:
16 MPX Exmor sensor
1920×1080 60p/60i/24p AVCHD 2.0 video recording
Can record stills in RAW
3 inch touchscreen (swifel)
audio level control
IR AVR remote
via sonyalpharumors

After the Sony F3 that is shaking up the cinema market, the FS-100 that is shaking up the low budget high end video market, and the small 1080p60 Sony HX9v that is creating a lot of buzz Sony is apparently just getting warmed up and ready for another strike (it’s about time!).